Report: During 2010, Israel significantly stepped up its Judaisation policies

An official report issued by the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) has stated that in 2010, the Israeli authorities stepped up measures aimed at the judaisation of the Occupied Palestinian territories, particularly Jerusalem.  It also states that Israel has increased the rate at which it issues decisions and implements policies toward that end.

The report, which was issued on Monday (03.01.2011), stressed that during 2010 the Occupation Authority demolished 335 Palestinian buildings, including 190 residential buildings, 63 of which were located in Jerusalem. The Occupation also issued a number of military orders for the demolition of 1,334 buildings, most of which are homes in the neighbourhood of Silwan in Occupied Jerusalem. According to the report, the Occupation Authorities also encouraged the seizure of Palestinian homes and eviction of their legal owners; with direct assistance from the Israeli police.

In the same context, the Occupation’s Municipality in Jerusalem approved a comprehensive master plan to change the character and identity of the Buraq Square. This includes digging tunnels under the Square and building Jewish religious centres and police centres underground in addition to changing the entrances to the Square.

The PLO added that 2010 saw the issuance of a number of decrees and laws that fall within the context of Israeli schemes to Judaize the Holy City, especially the law that makes Jerusalem a Jewish Priority area. In light of this law, the Occupation Authority has approved the construction of about 10,000 settlement units inside Jerusalem; construction has already begun in 1,200 units. Tens of millions of dollars have been allocated for making changes to the infrastructure of the Buraq Wall (Wailing Wall) and Wady El Joz.

These measures come “in parallel to the escalation in issuing construction orders for thousands of settlement units, with a high concentration inside Occupied East Jerusalem and is the result of the confiscation of Palestinian land in the area and its use in settlement construction and expansion projects.”

According to the report, the Occupation Authorities approved the construction of 16,479 units last year, with most of these units being inside Jerusalem’s borders. Israeli authorities confiscated around 4,826 dunums of land, including 750 dunums in Eisaweyya, Beit Aksa, and Anata in Occupied East Jerusalem.